‘Infosys, TCS most admired; Bharti Airtel, ICICI most innovative’

New York, July 11 (IANS) IT majors Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro have emerged as the three most admired companies in India, while leading the list of most innovative firms are Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank, according to a survey of the readers of Wall Street Journal Asia. As part of its efforts to determine Asia’s 200 most admired firms, the Journal Friday released the list of India’s 10 most admired companies as well as top 10 innovators.

Infosys has retained its position as the most admired company since 2000, while TCS has retained its second position since the previous survey in 2006 and Wipro has moved up one position from fourth.

For innovation, Infosys, TCS and HCL Technologies are also in the top five, followed by Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications, Wipro, Satyam, M&M and Hindustan Lever (now called Hindustan Unilever).

Saying that Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile-phone operator by the number of subscribers, and ICICI, the country’s largest private-sector bank by assets, are synonymous with the country’s consumer boom, the Journal commended them for “creating unique products for the Indian market and importing smart ideas from overseas, extending their reach into Indian society and raising standards of service”.

In individual categories, Infosys led in long-term vision, Larsen & Toubro in quality, Siemens India topped in corporate reputation and State Bank of India in financial reputation.

A total of 2,477 executives and professionals participated in the survey, which was conducted last year from May 11 to July 3.